Kevin Hillier says Werribee has been left at the PR barrier
Spring, and a young man’s fancy turns to horse racing. And what a connection Werribee and the City of Wyndham have with the Spring Racing Carnival now under way. The International Horse Centre is home to the ever-growing group of international raiders who are making a habit of winning our most prestigious races. Between August and November, millions of dollars in horse flesh resides in the 3030 postcode. It comes with teams of stablehands, trainers and strappers, who mostly live in the City of Wyndham, eat at our restaurants and shop locally.
The International Breakfast with the Stars on the Thursday before the Melbourne Cup is a major media event and the City of Wyndham gets enormous exposure. The marketing opportunities for our city are almost endless … and almost entirely wasted. As I wrote last week, we need to take every available opportunity to let people inside and outside our city know what we have here. There was a time when the Werribee Cup was an integral part of Melbourne Cup Week and the winner gained automatic entry to the big race. Sadly those days are over and the Werribee Cup is a shadow of the race it was when the great Makybe Diva won it in 2002.
I can remember when no work was done on Werribee Cup day because the whole town was at the races. Now you’re lucky if most of us even know when the cup is on because it has changed its date so many times in recent years. We can’t change that, but we can capitalise on the time when the big-name horses are here.
The racing club opened a new $1.3 million synthetic training track last week that is the equal of facilities in Dubai and Hong Kong. When we have world-famous jockeys, trainers and celebrities here every day during the carnival, we must take advantage. Why don’t we have a launch for the arrival of the international horses and name a local ambassador of racing, like Lauryn or Russell Mark? I bet if Geelong had the opportunity, its mayor and council would be all over it. What do you think? ■
If you have any news or events, let me know at kevin@howdypartnersmedia. com.au
